


Moonlight and Water

by xKinkajou



Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 21:34:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6488218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xKinkajou/pseuds/xKinkajou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Markus catches Ashe in a compromising position and they have a heart to heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moonlight and Water

     Ashe had been missing for most of the day. Her and Gregor had gotten into an argument about spirits and monsters. Markus wasn't there for the argument and Gregor would only say that he said some spirits deserved the same fate as monsters. He was frustrated sometimes that he had to act as the mediator between the two, but someone needed to help bridge the gap they had formed between each other somehow. He had given her half the day to cool off before he started looking for her. He worried after it got dark that something had happened to her.  


     She wasn't in her hollowed out tree that he let her believe he didn't know about. He wanted to look closer at how she had shaped it without killing the tree, but he knew if she caught him that would only make her angrier. He looked up from the tree as he heard faint splashing. He followed the sounds to a small lake he hadn't known was there. It was cleverly hidden; he wouldn't have thought there was anything here but a thick copse of trees if he hadn't been following the sounds.  


     He let out a breath of astonishment as he found Ashe. Her clothes were placed in a neat pile on the lake's edge. She stood in the shallows, her back to him. He could see every detail of her tattoos. Now that he saw them fully he was convinced they were something entirely different. They extended in intricate designs down her back and along the sides of her legs. Hearing his approach she turned and he saw the same of her front. She wasn't as flat as she appeared beneath her baggy tunic. The tattoos curled around her small breasts and met again at her stomach, forming a complex knot on her navel. Moonlight seemed to sparkle off her damp hair. He couldn't help but let out a breathy, "Wow." Adorned in water and moonlight, she held a beauty he had never seen in her before. Their eyes locked, Ashe's full of astonishment and Markus' enraptured.  


     The moment was quickly shattered, "What the fuck Markus, get out of here!"  


     He quickly ducked behind a tree out of sight, "Sorry Ashe. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You've been gone all day."  
He heard splashing and rustling of cloth, "What, am I not allowed to have some time to myself? There aren't any monsters out here to worry about. I'm fine on my own."  
"You never know, monsters migrate all the time," he called. "Besides, I meant alright more in a mental way."  


     There was silence for a few moments. Finally a red faced Ashe stepped around the tree to face Markus. Despite her trying to make it look like anger, she was very clearly embarrassed.  
"I'm fine now," she muttered. "It was nothing."  


     Markus sighed in exasperation, "It was clearly something if it took you all day to calm down. You know you can talk to me Ashe. What did he say?"  


     "Maybe I'm not ready to talk," she replied defensively.  


     "So you'll talk to Inien but not us? She hasn't said anything specific but she keeps dropping smug hints that she knows something about you that we don't. What does it say that you talked to someone you clearly dislike, but not your own friends?" Markus hadn't meant to let all that out. He was trying to play diplomat, not alienate her. Seeing Ashe's panicked expression, he immediately wished he could take those words back. "Ashe sorry... I... you don't have to tell me anything."  


     "No, Markus... I think you're right. I owe you at least what she knows. Maybe it'll help you understand why I am the way I am sometimes." She settled down to sit against the tree, Markus following suit. She took a moment to think, wringing her hands nervously. "So... you got to see my tattoos. What did you think of them?"  
Markus thought a moment, picturing them.  


     "You're thinking about me naked again aren't you, you bastard." She swatted at him.  


     "Sorry, I was trying to remember what they looked like. I was a little distracted the first time you see." He winked at her and she smacked him again, "Ow, okay sorry. I can definitely tell that they're more than just tattoos. That pattern has a power to it, though I've never seen it before."  


     "Well Inien saw them immediately for what they are. Bindings. My power... isn't really mine. It comes from these. Whatever it is that's bound to me takes a part of me whenever I use its power. Someday-" Her voice cracked a bit as she tried to hold her emotions back. It was a lot harder saying this to Markus than it was in the heat of the moment with Inien. "Someday I'm afraid it will leave me empty. My humanity gone. Lately I've been trying to figure out what this makes me. When Gregor said..." She paused a moment, grimacing, then continued, "Gregor said that while monsters aren't spirits, spirits can be monsters, like the thing in the prison of lights. He said that when they turn bad they need to be put down just like any monster. All I could think about was him killing the Phobiast without hesitation after it took my form. What if...what if one day he decides that I'm a monster?" She rubbed her arm awkwardly. She didn't know what else to say, so she stayed silent, trying not to look at Markus' reaction.  


     Markus gave a deep sigh, "That was a whole lot heavier than I expected." He put his arm around Ashe's shoulder and pulled her to lean into him, "Gregor would never kill one of his friends. Especially not if he understood the circumstances. On the off chance that he would... well, that's what your other friends are for." He gave Ashe a warm smile, "I'll always be here for you." With some afterthought, he added, "I'm sure Kier and Thog would say the same."  


     Ashe let herself lean onto Markus' shoulder, a strange warmth filling her, "Thank you Markus. That means a lot to me."


End file.
